Andreas Wolff was one of the last. Sweat dripped from his cheeks, the German handball goalkeeper dragged himself through the catacombs of the Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Lille, completely exhausted. “I would like to go to the dressing room and calm down a bit,” said Wolff in a quiet voice. He was exhausted, especially emotionally.
He had used his last energy to complete the interview marathon about his heroic deeds in the semi-final thriller against Spain (25:24), but just before he reached the dressing room he briefly set his sights on the final on Sunday (1:30 p.m./ZDF and Eurosport) against world champions Denmark. He now wanted to “gather strength for the final,” he said. A final “where we have the potential to write history.”
Parades with virtually any body part
The fact that the handball players were able to achieve something historic at the end of these Olympic Games is mainly due to Wolff. Whether with his arm, legs or shoulder: the keeper saved the ball with practically every part of his body and managed an incredible 22 saves at the end. The performance inevitably brought back memories of the 2016 European Championship final, when Wolff almost single-handedly won the match against Spain.
He has seen some great games from Wolff, said national coach Alfred Gislason on Friday on ZDF, “but that was the best.” DHB captain Johannes Golla simply called the goalkeeper’s world-class performance “crazy.” And fellow goalkeeper David Späth, who had been a decisive factor in the quarter-final against France, said full of admiration: “Andi really saved our asses today. He saved so many loose balls. That’s why he’s one of the best goalkeepers in the world, because he’s there in games like this.”
Germany has already secured silver. And after unsuccessful attempts in 1984 and 2004, when they both ended up in second place, the team is hoping to pull off a major coup in its first Olympic final appearance in 20 years. Wolff said he was “relieved” that the medal he was aiming for was already secured. But the 33-year-old, who will receive his second Olympic medal on Sunday after bronze in 2016, wants the maximum: “Now I hope that we can manage it, that it will be a gold one.”
“Testimony to a fantastic tournament”
Wolff, he leaves no doubt about it, is ready. He sees himself as part of a great team, in which everyone steps in for the other. And so he avoided the bright spotlight on Friday evening. The chance of gold is “testimony to a fantastic tournament” for the entire team. But, says Wolff, “we still have to take the step and we have to prepare for that now.”
The match against Denmark will be about the first all-German Olympic victory, the first gold since the legendary GDR triumph in 1980. Wolff was asked at the end whether the team was ready for gold. His answer: “We’ll see in two days.” Wolff grinned.
